Love Me, Love My Cat
by StBridget
Summary: Steve's date is going well, until she meets Ninja. Ninja the cat verse.


**Hawaii Five-0 is property of CBS and its creators.  
**

"Here we are." Steve McGarrett ushered his date, Becky (no, not Becky, Rebecca, He'd already made that mistake) into the house. "Have a seat and I'll put the coffee on."

Steve puttered in the kitchen, reflecting on his evening. He and Becky (Rebecca, dammit) had had a lovely dinner. They'd talked and enjoyed each other's company, and Steve had invited her back to his place for coffee. He wasn't really hoping for anything more (though he wouldn't complain, either), but he was optimistic a second date would come out of it.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sneeze from the living room. He went back in to see Rebecca sitting on the sofa, eyes red and watery, nose running, staring at the cat perch in the corner of the room. "You have a cat, don't you?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, Ninja. He's around somewhere. Why, is that a problem?" Steve asked stupidly. To be fair, this was unexpected, and his brain hadn't quite caught up yet.

Rebecca glared at him, more than physical irritation in her eyes. "Well, duh, stupid," is what her eyes said, but what came out of her mouth was "I'm allergic."

"Oh." Steve was disappointed. This was not in his plans. "I have some Benadryl. Will that help?"

"I can try it."

Steve went to get the pills. He heard more sneezing and returned to the living room to find Ninja rubbing against Rebecca's ankles, purring. Steve handed her the pills and a glass of water. "Here."

She swallowed the pills, and Ninja jumped up on her lap. She sneezed again. "Get him off me!"

"Oh, sorry." Steve picked up the cat and cuddled him. "I know you like her, boy, but she doesn't like you. Let's go up to Daddy's room, okay?" Ninja purred and rubbed his head against Steve's chin.

Steve carried the cat up to his room and shut him in, Ninja curling up on the bed and apparently drifting off to sleep. Steve got the coffee and a handful of tissues and returned to the living room.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "He's not usually all over people like that."

"It's okay," Rebecca replied. "I think they sense when someone's allergic. It's like a magnet."

"Yeah, I guess. Is the medicine helping?"

She sniffled. "Yeah, some, thanks."

They chatted about nothing in particular for a few minutes. Suddenly, the air was split by a horrible yowl. Steve tried to ignore it and continue the conversation, but the noise didn't let up, instead repeating itself again and again.

"I don't think your cat's happy," Rebecca said.

"No, I guess not." An awkward silence stretched between them. Steve wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't let Ninja out, but he couldn't ignore him either. Maybe he'd stop? Another howl killed that hope.

"Look," Rebecca said, "you're nice and all, but this just isn't going to work out. Maybe we can be friends. Call me sometime, and we'll have lunch."

"Okay." Steve was disappointed, but he understood. And at least the evening wasn't a total loss. He thought he'd enjoy being friends with Rebecca, even if he couldn't bring her to his place. "Let me take you home."

"It's okay, I'll call a cab." She kissed him on the cheek, then sneezed. "It's been fun, really."

He saw her to the door. "I'll call you." With a final wave, she was gone.

Steve went upstairs and let Ninja out. The cat rubbed against his ankles like Steve had been gone for years instead of a few minutes. Steve picked him up. "Guess it's just you and me, buddy." He couldn't regret it. He was a cat owner now, for better or worse, and people would just have to deal with it. Love Steve, love his cat. Steve snuggled the cat in question and got ready for bed. He could live with that.

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 **A/N: Not my original intent with this story, but the muse wouldn't let me go. I think I'll probably write another one that's more like Bullet's story, a comedy of errors, but I may wait until after the Big Ninja Story I have coming up. ;)**


End file.
